More Than Lunch: Conroe Lions hear a doctor's advice and a scholarship story
By the time Dr. Pamela Schlembach took the microphone on Wednesday, she had been warned about the napkins. Members of the Conroe Noon Lions Club throw them. The guest speaker took off her shoes and settled in.
“Since y'all are throwing napkins, I'm going to kick my shoes off,” said Schlembach, medical director of MD Anderson The Woodlands. She had come for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with a message worth taking home: know what is normal for your body, pay attention to changes and tell your doctor.
She put the room through a thumbs-up quiz. Could men get breast cancer? Could women without a family history? Both answers were yes. Age was no guarantee, either. “I just treated a 25-year-old,” she said.
“The earlier you can find it, the better,” Schlembach said. She urged members to keep up with mammograms and to speak up about a lump, swelling or other change. MD Anderson recommends annual mammograms starting at 40 for women at average risk; those at higher risk may need an earlier, different plan. She also encouraged members to stay active, sit less and limit alcohol, practical habits they could work on long after October.
Schlembach helped bring MD Anderson to The Woodlands in 2004 so patients could receive care closer to home. “It was just me and seven other people, and now we are 400 of us,” she said. She was headed to her alma mater the University of Toledo, to receive its Gold T Award, with 24 family members joining her. Congrats Dr. Schlembach!
The Club’s own screening calendar is full this month. Volunteers are checking preschoolers' vision through the end of October, with another screening planned for about 100 children at Sam Houston Elementary on October 17th. We need more volunteers, and no experience with the screening equipment is required: there are jobs from handing out stickers to helping children find their seats.
First Vice President Andrew Perry reported the results of the club's October 3rd Clay Shoot at Blackwood Gun Club. At first glance it appears the numbers will be up, especially with the gun raffle sales topping $11,000, before Lion Bill McGraw contributed an extra $5,000. Lion Rickey Delahoussaye won twice. “It pays to buy lots of tickets,” Perry said. Plus, another winner donated her gun back for a future fundraiser.
As part of our Fall Membership Drive, we have heard from fellow Lions about why they joined Conroe Noon Lions Club. And best account came today from Lion Phillip Black, a local attorney who first encountered the club as a high school scholarship contestant 20 years ago.
Black finished second in the Outstanding Youth contest. “You kind of just get your 500 bucks and move on with your life,” he said. “But Glen Starr took an interest in me.” Starr arranged another chance to compete, and Black went on to win at the state level in Kerrville, with his father and Starr there.
He kept coming back as Starr's guest through college and law school. Only later did he realize those lunches had been costing Starr money. When he returned to Conroe to practice, joining the club was one of his first calls. He now serves on the board and helps with the scholarships that brought him there.
Black remembered getting out of school for lunch and watching grown professionals cut up. His favorites were the club's “Smile” song and the flying napkins.
“We used to throw napkins a lot more than we throw napkins now,” he said. “So, I'm very proud of bringing that back.”
The Conroe Noon Lions Club meets weekly at the Lone Star Convention Center. Visitors are welcome. For more information about membership or the club's Community Partner program, visit conroenoonlions.org.
She put the room through a thumbs-up quiz. Could men get breast cancer? Could women without a family history? Both answers were yes. Age was no guarantee, either. “I just treated a 25-year-old,” she said.
“The earlier you can find it, the better,” Schlembach said. She urged members to keep up with mammograms and to speak up about a lump, swelling or other change. MD Anderson recommends annual mammograms starting at 40 for women at average risk; those at higher risk may need an earlier, different plan. She also encouraged members to stay active, sit less and limit alcohol, practical habits they could work on long after October.
Schlembach helped bring MD Anderson to The Woodlands in 2004 so patients could receive care closer to home. “It was just me and seven other people, and now we are 400 of us,” she said. She was headed to her alma mater the University of Toledo, to receive its Gold T Award, with 24 family members joining her. Congrats Dr. Schlembach!
The Club’s own screening calendar is full this month. Volunteers are checking preschoolers' vision through the end of October, with another screening planned for about 100 children at Sam Houston Elementary on October 17th. We need more volunteers, and no experience with the screening equipment is required: there are jobs from handing out stickers to helping children find their seats.
First Vice President Andrew Perry reported the results of the club's October 3rd Clay Shoot at Blackwood Gun Club. At first glance it appears the numbers will be up, especially with the gun raffle sales topping $11,000, before Lion Bill McGraw contributed an extra $5,000. Lion Rickey Delahoussaye won twice. “It pays to buy lots of tickets,” Perry said. Plus, another winner donated her gun back for a future fundraiser.
As part of our Fall Membership Drive, we have heard from fellow Lions about why they joined Conroe Noon Lions Club. And best account came today from Lion Phillip Black, a local attorney who first encountered the club as a high school scholarship contestant 20 years ago.
Black finished second in the Outstanding Youth contest. “You kind of just get your 500 bucks and move on with your life,” he said. “But Glen Starr took an interest in me.” Starr arranged another chance to compete, and Black went on to win at the state level in Kerrville, with his father and Starr there.
He kept coming back as Starr's guest through college and law school. Only later did he realize those lunches had been costing Starr money. When he returned to Conroe to practice, joining the club was one of his first calls. He now serves on the board and helps with the scholarships that brought him there.
Black remembered getting out of school for lunch and watching grown professionals cut up. His favorites were the club's “Smile” song and the flying napkins.
“We used to throw napkins a lot more than we throw napkins now,” he said. “So, I'm very proud of bringing that back.”
The Conroe Noon Lions Club meets weekly at the Lone Star Convention Center. Visitors are welcome. For more information about membership or the club's Community Partner program, visit conroenoonlions.org.